Murdered IT professional Mohsin Shaikh (left) and Hindu Rashtra Sena president Dhananjay Desai

MUMBAI (twocirles.net) — As the investigation into the Pune communal violence by Hindu radicals proceeds, many facts are coming out to suggest that it had been a well planned and orchestrated targeting of Muslim community living in Pune and its nearby areas.

Pune police have said that immediately after the brutal beating and killing of the 24-year old Muslim techie Mohsin Sadiq Shaikh, a resident of Solapur, on Monday in Hadapsar area of Pune, the activists of the Hindu Rashtra Sena exchanged a text message on their mobiles saying in Marathi: ‘Pahili wicket padli’ (First wicket has fallen).

“The message was circulated immediately after about 25 members of the Hindu extremist outfit allegedly bludgeoned Shaikh to death,” city joint commissioner of police Sanjay Kumar was quoted as saying to a newspaper.

Taking into consideration the content of the message exchanged by the Hindu Rashtra Sena activists and the weapons they were carrying, the police are now probing whether the attack was planned in advance.

Meanwhile Pune police have arrested 4 more members of Hindu Rashtra Sena. A total of 17 people have been arrested in connection with the murder of Shaikh Mohsin Sadiq in Bankar Colony in Hadapsa area on Monday night, police said.

On Wednesday, a local court remanded all the accused to police custody till June 9.Thirteen persons were earlier arrested by police in this connection who have been booked under Sections 302 (murder), 307 (attempt to murder) and 147 (rioting) of Indian Penal Code.

Since Tuesday, the city has deployed security forces to restore peace and harmony in the city. Meanwhile, the City Police Commissioner Satish Mathur said stringent provisions of Maharashtra Prevention of Dangerous Activities Act (MPDA) would be invoked to book the miscreants suspected of involvement in inciting violence.

Police have also issued an appeal asking people not to believe or spread rumors and said that Mohsin Sadiq Shaikh, who was murdered on Monday in Hadapsar by Hindu radicals, was living there since 2006 and was not involved with any organization.

The brutal killing of the Muslim techie is being widely condemned by political parties and also by civil rights groups across the country.

“This killing isn’t a stray incidence without larger implications. With the coming of power of the new government, the Hindutva organizations are emboldened to intensify violence and polarize communities”, the All India Secular Forum (AISF) said in a statement.

Mohsin’s parents are in distress as their son was the sole breadwinner of the family. The incident has also proved that Pune has now become a communally sensitive place. His father told the Indian Express, “I wasn’t worried at all. Neither was Mohsin. We knew Pune was a safe city. I had spoken to him on Monday afternoon and we didn’t even discuss this issue. We didn’t think it was something to worry about.”

Mohsin was nowhere connected with the uploading of derogatory pictures on social networking site Facebook and had to lose his life for no fault of his.

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